


Wars and Medals

by aqualewdity



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M, post apocalyptic, post season 3B
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-03
Updated: 2014-06-12
Packaged: 2018-02-03 06:26:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1734407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aqualewdity/pseuds/aqualewdity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So I got an idea while reading a Sciles fanfiction on here.  It shortly spoke about Scott and his pack finally making Beacon Hills a safe place after high school.  And I get to thinking, what if they didn't?  What if things only got worse?  And this is the result.<br/>It switches back and forth between Stiles and Scott so don't be concerned.</p><p>Also, this isn't my first time writing but it IS my first time writing fanfiction.  So please be nice!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was raining.  Stiles couldn’t remember a time when the sky wasn’t bleak, but the rain wasn’t helping.  He ushered the kids back inside the safehouse as quickly as possible.  There could barely take care of the sick now and they didn’t anymore getting ill from this passing storm.  Lydia and Kira was at the door to greet the kids with smiling faces.  They tried to keep a positive air about them with anyone under 15 but it wasn’t really doing much.  The school was now a home.  The streets were unsafe.  There was barely anytime for laughs or smiles anymore and everyone could see that.  Then again, that’s exactly why they kept on smiling.

                Stiles started sweeping.  He always swept when people left the courtyard.  It confused most people, but, since he was in charge no one really saw fit to question him.  Even Lydia just watched as her friend swept from one end to the other in silence.  Stiles looked up a few times at her, knowing she clearly wanted an explanation but was too afraid to ask.  There was enough terror out in the world.  No one wanted to bring anymore inside.

                As he finished, Stiles did what he always did.  He flipped the broom over and blew the rest of the dust off.  He was incredibly focused, but could still see Lydia out of the corner of his eyes.  He saw when she turned around, like she was listening to conversation only she could hear.  Stiles stopped his ritual.  People were coming to the safehouse, and one of them wasn’t going to survive the night.

                Stiles was the last to reach the doors.  Kira was already ready, hair up in a ponytail, with her katana in one hand and vial of Mountain Ash in the other.  She was prepared to complete the circle if necessary.  Stiles stood behind her with his father’s shotgun and Lydia stood behind him.  She had Ring Daggers in her hands but she had never used them in combat and Stiles could see she wasn’t ready to do it today.  Still, she stood with her friends to face the possible threat.

                Stiles could see                 Kira relax a bit when she saw Stiles’ jeep racing through the rain.  She looked back his shotgun that was still upright and ready.  Stiles was not so convinced it still didn’t spell trouble.  Especially if it wasn’t _him._

                The jeep stopped just short of the ash circle.  Danny jumped out of the passenger seat and went to open the back down.  Stiles only lowered his weapon when he saw Chris Argent come around from the driver’s side.  Lydia pushed passed them as she saw the person she needed to help.  _At least they came back at all,_ Stiles thought.

                “Stay still, Kelly.  It’ll be ok,” Lydia said calmly.  Chris and Danny lifted the girls mangled body out of the car as a few boys followed behind.

“How do you know her name,” Chris asked.

“How do you think?”

                A banshee’s visions and calls are never wrong.  Stiles could see in Lydia’s face as she carried Kelly inside that Kelly wouldn’t really be ok.  But there was no use telling the girl that now.

                Chris took a big exhale and walked over to Kira and Stiles.  Stiles could see the last few months wearing down on the man’s face.  He was the oldest of them fighting, but Stiles knew he could never convince him otherwise.

“You look good, Stilinski.”

“You don’t.  Still can’t find any hair dye in all those ruins, huh?”

                Chris scoffs as he shuffles through his now all white hair. Stiles can sense that he wants to relax but there’s business to be done first.  Still, Stiles’ ability to lighten a mood hadn’t faded and he took pride in that.

                The silence was overwhelming.  Kira tapped Stiles on the shoulder and gave him a look that said, _It’s ok to ask,_ before heading inside.  So, Stiles decided to take a moment and be selfish.

“How is he?”  He had to force out even those small words.

“He’s…managing.  Derek’s taught him all he can now.  He’s leading, he’s fighting, he’s rallying and rescuing.  He’s ok.”

                Stiles just would’ve settled for an affirmation of him still being alive.

“He misses you.”

                Stiles pushed back his feelings.  This was no time to get emotional.  He couldn’t get emotional now.  But Chris took a step closer, like the next few words couldn’t be heard by anyone but Stiles.  He reached in his pocket and pulled out a dusty cloth.

“He also…found this for you.  He told me to get this to you, even if I didn’t come back.”

He placed it in Stiles’ hands.  Stiles unwrapped it slowly, already feeling the weight of the metal.  He knew what it was before even seeing it.

“I’ll give you minute alone.”

                Stiles barely even heard Chris leave.  His eyes were focused on the shining golden star in his hands.  And then they weren’t.  They started to become blurry with tears that he couldn’t force down anymore.  No one was around and all he could feel were the tears streaming down his face and the engraving under his thumb.  There was no Sherriff anymore.  There were werewolves and demons and witches and Stiles without a father. 

                He grinded his teeth in anger as the rain masked his tears.  He couldn’t tell what was on cheek anymore and maybe that was a good.  He was crying.  He was screaming inside.  But it couldn’t be seen outside.  He was given a mission and even his father’s death couldn’t take that way.  Besides, it was a year ago.  It was time to move on.  Stiles could push forward better than anyone.

                “Mr. Stiles?”

                A voice from behind made him jump until he realized it was one of the kids.  He didn’t have to wipe his face.  The rain did its job.

“Ms. Lydia says to come inside.”

“Alright, Jody.  Get inside before you catch a cold.”

888

                The classroom was now a war room.  The old teacher’s desk was in the middle of the room.  There was a paper map on it and a few notes on the side.  Paper and verbal communication was more reliable than technology at this point.

                There were seat scattered in a messy circle.  Kira and Danny sat near the window to watch for anyone approaching the school.  Lydia and Melissa sat next to each other near the door.  Lydia was always there in case Melissa needed help or tell her if a patient should be moved away from everyone else.  They wanted people seeing as little death as possible.

Stiles sat behind the desk.  No one looked at him weird or funny anymore when he took charge.  His intelligence was no longer shocking.  In fact it was something everyone depended on. Even Chris, who sat right in front of him to give him an update on the situation.

“Things aren’t looking good.  Demons are rising up everywhere.  Wolf packs are dying and because people are realizing these news segments aren’t hoaxes, the fighting is happening in the streets.  These creatures are getting bold.  When you three awakened the Nemeton 4 years ago you didn’t just awaken the Nogitsune.  It’s like you turned on a light or a beacon that’s summoning any evil to this side of the world.”

“To Beacon Hills,” Melissa muttered.  “Why am I not surprised?”

Chris continued.

“Malia and Issac are up north.  They’re trying to keep the fighting as discreet as possible but that resolve is gonna give way soon.  They’re also Omegas.  They won’t last if the fighting gets worse.”

Stiles took a deep breath.  He knew the news wasn’t going to get better.  And what’s worse, he knew why.

“Ethan finally caught up with Jackson down south,” Danny said.  “The battles are worse but Ethan is a Beta again.  He can handle his own.”

“But with Jackson denying his powers for so long he’s still an Omega and a weak one at that.”

Chris was getting more uptight.

“I thought Morrell was backing them up,” Stiles added.

“Stiles, Morrell is dead.”

Stiles sighed.  Death was happening too quickly for anyone to mourn.  He wanted to kick himself for crying just a few moments ago.

“Well, with her brother gone she wasn’t bound to last much longer.”

Melissa looked worried.  She always had a hand in taking care of Stiles and he could tell she wanted to help and coddle him but she couldn’t.  She couldn’t be a mother to the only surrogate child she had left and it was killing her.  Still she kept silent.

“You’re and emissary now, Stiles,” Lydia said.  “Deaton taught you everything he knew before he died.”

“But I can’t access any abilities without the Nemeton.  His last lesson was that I needed to do a ritual at the Nemeton to become a true Druid.  And if it really is a beacon for evil right now I’ll never make it out of there alive.”

                Everyone was silent.  The answer was staring all of them in the face but no one wanted to say it.  They didn’t want to fight.  They had enough fighting to deal with outside.  But Stiles was tired of being civil.  His friends could all die if he didn’t act.

“We need Scott.”

“Stiles,” Kira pleaded.

“We need him to figure out what to do, what next step to take.  He’s the damn Alpha for a reason, isn’t he?”

Chris stood up slowly.

“That’s exactly why he should be out there.  He should be fighting or traveling to be with his pack to give them strength.  You of all people know that’s how it works.”

“I know this is the base of operations and it makes sense for him to come here to start working out a solution.”

“An Alpha is a powerful thing,” Lydia added.  “That kind of power here would bring us fights daily.”

“We’re already fighting!”

“But we can’t take in anymore injured.  We’re running low on supplies as it is and It’s harder to use my powers if I have people on their deathbed next door.”

Stiles didn’t know what to add after Lydia spoke.  He knew he was going to say something personal and emotional and it couldn’t come to that.

“He needs to go Issac or Ethan and give them assistance,” Chris said.

“But…” Melissa whispered.  Everyone turned to the woman who barely spoke anymore if it wasn’t about medical supplies.  She wasn’t supernaturally inclined but she looked determined to say her peace.

“We all are kidding ourselves if we think Scott would ever go that far away from Stiles.  And for a selfish reason, I’d like to actually see my son before the year is out.”

                Stiles couldn’t keep his eyes off Melissa.  She was standing up for him but he knew she just wanted to know that Scott was ok.  They both did.

“Incoming!” 

                Kira yelled and then moved to the door.  No one even looked to see what it was.  They just pulled out their weapons.  Melissa moved to take her position with the injured in case there were more to come.  Chris threw Danny his gun and they followed Kira.

“I can help, “Lydia said.

“No.  We need some type of power before the circle.  Otherwise it’s useless.”

                Stiles didn’t mean to be harsh but he was telling the truth.  Not wanting Lydia hurt was a part of it but it wasn’t the main focus.  Someone was gonna get hurt today.

                They reached the entrance.  Stiles threw down the vial.  The circle signaled completion with a purple smoky flair. He raised his shotgun in wait.

                The sky was cloudy and dark.  The rain stopped as if the Earth knew these warriors needed to see clearly. 

                The silence was terrible.  It only raised the fear.  Stiles looked around with the shotgun.  He tried to peer into the woods until something peered back.  There was a pair of orange eyes.  They blinked a few times then they came into the light.  There was no “whites of their eyes” to wait for.  It was all black and orange.  It was half human and half skeleton with bones protruding in various directions.  It waited until everyone on the side of the school could see its form.  Then it howled an eerie and freakish howl until the entire forest was decorated with orange and black eyes. 

Stiles blinked.

“I guess it’s demons on the menu today.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter but the next one will be pretty long, I promise! I hope you're still liking it.

From an outside perspective, Scott would just seem like a blur.  A flash in one tree, and a dead demon would drop.  A flash in another and another would turn to ash.  He was getting quicker and more precise with the field practice he was getting.  Nothing was safe and he could feel his power growing immensely.

He leaped over a branch, ready to decapitate another demon but another’s claw got to it first. 

Scott touched ground.  He shifted back into his human form, looking around for the other assailant.  Derek walked up behind him, wiping the ash off of his claws.

“I had him, “ Scott said.

“Apparently you didn’t.”

                Scott smirks for a moment and then sniffs the air.  He breaks out his claws and strikes the air the moment another one of those creatures tries and aerial attack.  He captures by the throat and stares into its black and orange eyes as it squirms for life.

“So what do you think it is,” Scott asks.

“I have no idea.  Never seen anything like it.”

                Scott studies its face for a moment more before breaking its neck and turning it to ash.  He shut his eyes tightly for a minute.  It was weird sometimes when he became aware of how easy it was to kill.  4 years ago it would have taken everything in him to try and save people, even if they meant him harm.  Now death was the only way to secure the safety of the people that really mattered.

                He scoffed.  All people used to matter.

“That would be a skeleton, boys.”

                Peter Hale walked up to them.  His shirt was dusty from the remains of probably a couple hundred of those things.  He didn’t bother wiping it off.  They all knew the fighting wasn’t done.  Not in the middle of the battlefield.

“It’s also not a fully formed skeleton.  Someone or something has been raising them before they’re ready.”

“Wait, raising them?”  Scott was starting to get worried.

“You mean these weren’t created?”

“No, just reanimated.  These are Beacon Hills’ finest.  Or what’s left of them.”

Scott was stunned.  He didn’t want to move until his thoughts aligned perfectly, but they were cut short by Peter being pushed in his direction.

Cora lunged past her uncle and into the arms of her brother.

“Thank god,” she whispered, though with everyone around having superhuman hearing, her feelings were clear.  She didn’t smile.  She never smiled. But seeing her brother, knowing he was alive through all this was enough to remind her she was the little sister.  He could still make everything better.

She quickly released him and, after a few looks shared between the two of them, Cora turned to face Peter and receive more of the info.

“They all look the same,” Derek said.

“Yes they would, being underdeveloped.  It’s not their fault.  Whatever is being used to reanimate is working quicker than it should.  If it had more time you would probably recognize them.”

“So someone is trying to work fast,” Scott added.

“Or something.  And for now, yeah, that’s what it seems like. “

                Peter’s affirmation only worried Scott more.  Someone was trying to wipe them out and everyone he counted on was working hard to make sure that didn’t happen.  They were all doing their best under his leadership and his guidelines.  It was times like these, inappropriate times like these, when he’d feel the wait of that burden.  Everyone was counting on the Alpha to lead them through.  Scott still wondered if he was deserving of that role.

                The smell in the air shifted and the four werewolves immediately stood back to back.  Their fangs were out, eyes shining blues and reds.  They were coming and there were a lot of them.  Plotting would have to wait.

                Cora let out a tiny yelp as her ankle was grabbed from below.  They were coming from underground.

“Don’t ever doubt me again,” Peter said, flipping Cora up in the air and away from her attackers.

                She landed on a branch, ready to fight whatever flew her way.

“Derek, join Cora,” Scott commanded.  Derek moved without question, climbing to the tree across from her sister’s.

Peter began pulling the skeletons up and striking them dead as quick as possible.  Scott was about to join in until he saw a small horde racing towards him.  He readied his claws, eyes unmoving, and wait for the right moment.

He grabbed the first creature by the shoulder and rolled back, throwing them up into the air for Cora to smash with kick to its throat.  He continued to roll until he was crouching back on his feet.  He sweep kicked the next one and stomped into it as he ran for two more. He stabbed in between their ribs.  They looked unharmed so threw them upward before they had a chance to react.  He stayed looking up long enough to see Cora and Derek making killing blows.

Peter punched one through the head before it had a chance to hit Scott.

“Eyes on your own target.  Always.” 

Peter didn’t leave room for discussion as he tackled three at a time.

A skeleton jumped on Scott’s back.  It tried to bit his neck but he roared, in both annoyance and rage, and flung it over.  He didn’t bother to look if Cora or Derek caught it.  Peter was right.  He needed to trust in his team, his pack.  He also needed to trust his self but, first things first.

After crushing another underground skeleton, there was only one left that was topside.  He was bigger than the others, and looked more human.  He was also giving Peter trouble.  Scott could see him take a few retreating steps.

Scott ran over, used a tree as a first step and flipped over them both.  He landed facing the back of the skeleton’s head.  Peter caught the signal as quickly as Scott through it and dodged the creature’s attack, turning around into a right hook.  Scott pumped up and fired his own right hook and they double whammy’d the thing, two fists through one head.

The bones collapsed to the ground, then turned to ash.  It was a slower death than usual and Scott silently looked for answers in Peter’s eyes.

“I told you.  With more time they become more like us.  Well, like humans, anyway.”

His joke did not land.  Scott was afraid to ask the question he really wanted to ask, but as Cora and Derek dropped down from the sky, he realized he wouldn’t be just asking for himself.

“Peter, is it… Is it possible that, whoever’s doing this could resurrect people we know?”

Peter gave a half-hearted smile.  One that spoke more to Scott’s naiveté than anything else.

“Scott, you’ve been doing this for seven years know.  I think you know better than anyone that anything is possible.”

                Scott didn’t respond.  He didn’t think Peter expected him to anyway.  He looked over his shoulder at Cora and she picked up the signal that they had to separate to the other side of Beacon Hills again.  She looked at Derek, but they didn’t hug this time.  It was a moment of fear, but Cora knew now that Derek was ok.  She was back to her normal, battle-ready self.

                They walked off, promising to reconvene when more information was obtained.  Scott still didn’t respond. His brain was trying to figure out what the next step would be if his worst fears would come true. He was simultaneously trying to not imagine his worst fear.

                Suddenly, he was wrapped inside a hug.  Derek didn’t hug.  He only hugged his sister and that was only life and death.  He never touched other people unless it was completely romantic or he was planning on tearing them apart.  Yet there he was, his arms wrapped around Scott and pulling him in tightly.

                Scott decided fighting it was pointless.  For the moment they were safe and this would be the only time he had to let some emotion out.  He wrapped his arms around Derek’s waist.  Then he pulled tight, tighter than he thought he ever would.  He let out the hugest sigh possible.

“Derek what if they bring her-“

“They won’t,” Derek interrupted. “We won’t let them.”

                Scott wanted to think of all the demons hiding in Derek’s closet.  He had as much of a reason to be afraid as Scott.  But he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.  That’s probably what the hug was for.  To let Scott know that it was ok to be selfish for a second.

                Scott winced.  Then he gasped and that gasp landed longer than he expected.  Something was wrong with him and he couldn’t describe it but the pain made his eyes turn back to red.  Derek released the hug and tried to look into his eyes but Scott couldn’t focus. He was just trying to find the source of the pain.

“Scott! Scott, what’s going on?”

He couldn’t form a sentence.  But the pain finally hit heart and it forced him to blurt out one word.

“…Stiles!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit longer. I meant to give this in earlier but I was trying to figure out when to cut it off. I hope you enjoy it. I'm really into this idea, a lot more than I thought I'd be so there should be a lot more coming!

Stiles was too used to the recoil of his father’s old shotgun.  His training from Deaton and Chris was all too natural.  He knew he shouldn’t be here, a mere child in the middle of a war.  But as he quickly discovered the enemy’s weak points, a thought came to mind.  Maybe this is exactly where he belonged.

“Head and chest,” he yelled.  Danny and Chris only nodded and continued firing their rounds, backs facing each other.  Danny was relatively new to the supernatural world, but he picked up quickly and started following Chris around like a surrogate son.  It seemed weird, but when everyone realized they were really the humans left in the fight, the connection made sense.

                “Heads up,” Danny said as he kicked one of the creatures right into Kira’s line of sight.  Instantly, her katana was through the demon’s chest. Then, she forced it upward, turning it into nothing but ash.  She was always agile and swift, but as she started to control her powers more, it became clear just how not-human she was.  When one the creatures would strike and meet her sword, the spark that ignites would give a small glimpse of her Kitsune armor and show people her true form.  It was clear she truly embraced her family legacy and everything her mother taught her. 

                She continued putting her teachings to good use, striking down another orange-eyed monster, completely splitting it in half with her sword. She swung it around as she spun, clearing any more of those things from her personal space until she landed on Stiles, surveying his team.

                “Watch your back,” she said.  Without even looking, Stiles flung his shotgun and fired it from over his shoulder.  Then came a kick to an enemy coming straight towards him and he fired another shot, point blank, to its head.  He continued like that on a few of them, subduing them with a foot and elbow and then shooting them to ashes.  It was like dancing with no music to him at this point. 

It was terrifying to him that it had gotten so mundane and yet constantly terrifying.  He was never afraid for his own life anymore.  He figured death would come sooner or later, but he didn’t fire on these creatures for himself.  If he fell, who would take care of Lydia or Melissa?  Where would that the little boy, Jody go if he didn’t stay with him?  The girl, Kelly, would be dying on the street.  He had to stay alive or the safehouse would be obsolete.  That’s what he was told when he was put in charge of it.  He didn’t always believe in Scott when he gave out encouragement and direction, but he would always believe that.

Another creature started to approach from a few feet away.  Stiles aimed carefully he breathed in and pulled the trigger on the exhale.  All he heard was a clicking sound.

“Shit.”  The creature was still racing toward.  In a fit of frustration, Stiles threw the shotgun in the air.  He caught it, sideways with both hands, just as he could see the black in the creature’s eyes.  He slammed the gun right into them.  The momentum of the monster left ash all over his black shirt.  He coughed a bit, but tried to refocus.

“I’m out!”

“I can help,” Lydia yelled.  She picked up a few rounds and started to move.

“No! Lydia, stay inside the circle.”

                Stiles turned around and began running towards the school door. 

“Mr. Stiles!”

                He could hear Jody in the door way yelling in fear.  And then he couldn’t hear anything. It was like time froze.  Stiles looked over to his right to see a bone stabbed through his shoulder.  It was bloody and he could feel the pain rising even further when it was snatched out of him, but for a few moments he couldn’t feel anything.  He couldn’t hear anything.

There was just Scott, like an echo, calling his name in the back of his mind,

                Then time sped up again.  Stiles screamed a blood curdling scream.  He could see Lydia want to move to help him, but she finally seemed to realize her duty to stay behind and protect. 

“No!”  He heard Kira yelling and running toward him at top speed.  Before he knew it, it was raining ashes on her and him.  She was determined not to lose anyone else.

“Fuck this,” she whispered. “Argent! Power Line!”

                Instantly, Chris moved forward and shot down one of the black lines from the pole.  It started to fall but only got halfway.  Kira’s hand outstretched, pulling it from midair all the way into her grip. 

“Get down,” she screamed, as her eyes flashed yellow.  She waited only a second as she saw Danny and Chris following orders and hitting the ground.  She put her other palm to the opening in the power line.  It began to spark and spit until electricity was pouring out of it and into her hand. It continued to gather and compact in her palm, forming a ball that was getting bigger and bigger until looked to heavy, even for her to handle.

“Plan B, motherfuckers.” 

                Her hand closed, taking all that firepower in, and she focused her fist toward the crowd of creatures.  She opened it, fired, and a bright light incased the entire forest. 

                Stiles was blind for a moment and then started to black out.  He was losing blood fast and, Kira going full force, he had no adrenaline keeping him awake.  The last thing he saw was rain. 

But it wasn’t raining water.  It was raining ashes.

888

Stiles' eyes were heavy from exhaustion. He hadn't slept that thoroughly in a while and he definitely wasn't planning on a stab through the shoulder to make it happen. He had hoped for something more peaceful.

He lifted his eyes slowly, realizing the pain he was in with every conscience breath.

His eyes locked with a smaller set of brown eyes by the foot of his bed. They were dazed and clearly sleepy. Still the little boy didn't move a muscle.

Stiles made an exaggerated groan to shock the boy back into reality. He raced over to the side of Stiles' injured arm.

"Mr. Stiles?" the boy asked meekly

"Hey, Jody."

"Is your arm ok?"

"It will be, once they finish the experiments."

The boy's eyes widened.

"What experiments?"

"For my new robo-arm!"

The boy gasped at Stiles' exaggerated movements. Then, as Stiles' huge face contorting back into a smile, Jody laughed and smiled back.

At least he could make one person smile.

Jody then pulled in really close and looked around at the other injured patients to make sure no one was listening.

"Mr. Stiles, there's a man here to see you."

Stiles tried to contain his excitement, both for Jody and the feeling that he could be wrong.

"Does this man look more like me or you?"

Jody studied Stiles for a moment and looked at his own olive skin. He contorted his face in thought and then whispered again. "Me."

Jody ran to the door as the man in question passed him on the way in.

Scott looked the same. His hair was a bit longer than normal and he looked a little buffer. But Stiles, for some reason he would look completely different by now.

"Cute kid," Scott said. His voice was the same too.

"You think so? He's yours."

Scott's head titled to the side and his went a bit wide.

"I'm kidding. Apparently it only takes a year for my humor to become alien."

Scott looked hurt, but he took it. Stiles didn't mean for it slip out like that. But it had and he thought it was probably as good a time as many to talk about it. Scott clearly didn't think so.

"You were out for a while, my mom said. You've been sleeping for a day and a half."

"So how long have you been here?"

"I started running when I discovered you were hurt."

Stiles' fingers twitched. He thought of the voice he heard screaming his name when he was attacked. A part of him didn't want to know it wasn't his imagination. Their connection couldn't really be that strong.

"I saw my mom first," Scott continued. "She told me not to wake you. And the boy told me he'd tell me the moment you opened your eyes. But I kinda heard you before he got the chance.”

Stiles decided to play along. He was angry and frustrated and many other emotions when it came to Scott, but at least for a little while, he just wanted to be near his best friend again.

“Jody was one of my dad’s last cases.  He had run away from his parents and wouldn’t tell anybody whether he got his bruises from them or from running away.  His parents were there, fighting with my dad when the stationed was attacked the first time.  He got Jody out but he couldn’t save his parents.  So he hung around with my dad a lot and now he hangs around with me.”

“A kid with a broken home who doesn’t leave your side.  Sounds like you’ve got your own personal Issac.”

                Scott smiled and it forced Stiles to do the same.  He missed this.  He missed being near Scott and he missed Scott’s beautiful smile.  It always made him feel safe. But acknowledging that only pushed the more pressing matters through.  They weren’t safe.  Stiles’ arm proved that and something had to be done.

                Stiles put the smile away for now. He stared into Scott’s eyes and watched as he received the telepathic message.  Scott sat down next to his best friend and instinctively began stroking his forearm.  Stiles jumped a bit at the unfamiliar touch and hissed at his own stupidity.  He didn’t mean to move his still wounded shoulder.

“Sorry,” Scott said immediately.  But still he didn’t let up, completely focusing on Stiles’ touch, probably so he didn’t have to look him in the eye and explain bad news at the same time.

“What are they,” Stiles asked.

“Peter says their Skeletons.  They’re dead victims being raised but someone or apparently something, to wipe everyone out.  The more power the spell has, the more they start to look human until…”

“Until they resemble people we know,” Stiles finished.  “So we have to find the source of this before my dad or Deaton tries to walk into the school and attack us.

                Scott just simply nodded.  His fingers traced up to Stiles’ hand and Stiles’ caught them.  Scott looked up slowly as his fingers weaved into Stiles’.  They were truly close for the first time in a long time and Stiles didn’t know where to begin.  There were a million things to say.

“Can you…?”

                Scott nodded again.  He unhooked their hands as Stiles slide over to one side of the bed.  Scott laid down and carefully lifted his hand under Stiles’ arm and around his waist.  He held Stiles as the both turned away from the door.  Stiles used his left hand to stroke Scott’s fingers.  He didn’t know what other move to make, but this one felt right.

“What am I supposed to do,” Stiles whispered.  “Everyone is counting on me, Scott.  Everyone. I don’t have time to be scared or confused.  I don’t know what to do.”

“Yes you do.  You’ve always known.  When it was just me and you against the world, you always knew what to do. I was never the brains of the operation.  I was never the one with all the information.  You don’t need me.”

“Yes I do.”

Scott let out a small laugh as Stiles’ hands tightened when he spoke. 

“You just need to trust and believe in yourself.

                Stiles closed his eyes and fell into the warmth of Scott on his back.  He took in a deep breath and tried to focus.  He took parts of their conversation and threaded it with Chris’ information.  He connected with lessons from Deaton and events that happened years ago.  Everything seemed to be moving a mile a minute in his head until he exhaled and opened his eyes.

“You need to take me to the Nemeton.  It’s a symbol of Druid power but with no Druid to use it right now, it’s just a pool of natural energy.  Whoever is doing this is using that energy as fuel but if I do my rituals and become a full Druid Emissary, the Nemeton will belong to me. They won’t be able to use it anymore.”

                By this time, Stiles was upright and sitting.  His uninjured arm was flailing like normal, his face was wide with excitement and passion, he was acting like his normal self and he didn’t notice any of it until he looked up and saw Scott staring and smiling at him.

He smiled back.  “I told you I needed you.”

                Stiles couldn’t bear the thought of getting serious again but something was troubling him and he talking about it in a makeshift sick ward was a lot better than talking about it in the middle of a dangerous forest.

“There’s, uh, something else I don’t know,” he said.

“Stiles-“

“No, let me finish. Before you left, before you finished giving everyone marching orders, you told me you loved me. Not like I haven’t heard that before but something in your face told me you meant a different kind of love.  And then you left and I had time to think, a lot of fucking time to think.”

He put his hand on Scott’s.  “And I love you too.”

“Stiles, we can’t do this now.”

“We might not get another time to do this, Scott.”

                Scott leaned in and Stiles took no time at all in meeting him halfway. Their kiss was gentle, soft and subtle.  They were both clearly scared, but once their lips touched, Stiles knew he didn’t want them anywhere else. 

                The door scrambled open.  Scott pulled away first.  Both boys had their heads down is slight embarrassment. Stiles wasn’t made at Scott for pulling back; he probably would’ve done the same if he wasn’t hurt.  He was more upset with the situation.  This wasn’t exactly the romantic setting he would’ve hoped for.

“I’m going,” Lydia said in the doorway.

They both looked at her in utter confusion.

“Going where,” Stiles asked.

“Don’t be stupid, Stiles.  You two are back together…so to speak, which means you have a plan and a journey and I’m going.”

Scott sighed.  “Lydia, listen-“

“Now you listen.”  She whipped out the daggers in a flashy move but then froze in amazement of her own skill.

“I have been training with these goddamn things for months now and they’ve never even seen a drop of blood or ash or whatever the hell these things are made of.  They haven’t…I haven’t fought and I need to.  Because we all once knew a girl who would whip these out without a second thought.”

Stiles closed his eyes in guilt.  He still slightly blamed himself for Allison’s death.  It was part of the reason he wasn’t happy with Lydia learning how to fight.  He couldn’t take another of his friends dying because he couldn’t stop it.  But that was selfish, and from the look Scott gave him, he thought so too. Scott nodded in agreement as well.  This was something they all had to do.

“We’ll leave tomorrow morning,” Stiles said.  “But we’re going to need everybody.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next part. I'm not really sure how long this is gonna be, which is usually a good thing when it comes to my writing. That means the characters are their own people and I'm just writing down their story. But I'm getting some great advice and ideas and I hope you guys are interested.

Scott watched as Stiles gave out the orders to everyone. Kira was to guard the safehouse with Danny backing her up in case of a fight. That left Chris alone to go pick up Malia and Issac while sending messages to Jackson and Ethan to return home. He looked strong and determined as he pointed and gestures, telling them that Beacon Hills could be safe again but it was going to take a lot of work. They were going to need to do more than they ever thought possible.

Scott thought about how beautiful Stiles was, battle scars and all. He didn't always drift off like that but after their kiss, the acknowledgement that Stiles felt the same way, everything had to change and Scott didn't mind riding the wave.

He was so dazed he didn't even see Stiles noticing he was being watched.

"What's up," he said.

"Nothing. I just see that I picked the right man for the job."

Stiles rolled his eyes but couldn't help but smile at the compliment. Still, business first, very serious business.

They watched as Chris drove away. They watched as Kira and Danny went inside the school. It was just Scott, Stiles and Lydia, just like it used to be. This time Scott was scared, more than ever was. There weren't just a few suspicious murders or disappearances. People were dying in the open and nothin seemed safe anymore. He wanted to hold Stiles' hand again but he knew it wasn't the time. Seeing him changed nothing about this moment. He had to be the alpha carrying out a mission. Anything else was too emotional and messy.

"See anything," Scott asked Lydia.

She was focused out, trying to make sure she didn't have to prepare another funeral for her friends.

"Too soon to tell."

Stiles sighed. "Well there's nothing hold us back now I guess."

 

Walking into the woods always seemed like a distorted dream to Scott. Everytime he did it, he surveyed the area while comparing it to the picture in his head. He remembered what the woods uses to be like before he was bitten. It was a place of adventure and slight danger. It was where he and Stiles would go to run away from their problems or discover some new territory that was only new to them.

He thought about it was when he was bitten. It was a place of violence and discovery. It was where they discovered Malia and where they fought and stopped fighting Derek.

Now he looked at it. It was dark even though it was morning. It was almost unrecognizable to his sight and smell. Scott could feel there was an incredible amount of wanted energy constantly struggling for dominance. Stiles was right. The Nemeton was like a throne. And every mystical thing out there had been destroying their town to sit and rule. These skeletons were no different.

“Heads up,” Stiles said as he pulled a branch forward and out of his way.  It snapped back and passed Scott as he ducked without a second thought.  He chuckled to himself a bit.  Apparently when he’s daydreaming of saving the world his reflexes can still focus on the world around him but when he’s daydreaming about Stiles they can’t.

Stiles was staring him and he realized how weird it must be to be smiling at oneself in the middle of a life or death mission.  His face conformed back to being serious.  Stiles just kind of looked confused, like he wanted to say something but he brushed it off.

Scott knew he should be more focused than any of them.  With Stiles’ arm preventing him from fighting and Lydia’s lack of experience he was the main one they’d need if something were to attack them.  But he hadn’t spent this much time with his best friend in so long.  He couldn’t help but feel drawn to him.  Maybe he just wanted to hear his voice.

“How’s your arm feeling?”

“Like there’s a damn hole in it, Scott,” he said plainly.

Scott looked down a bit.  He still couldn’t tell whether Stiles was joking and that upset him more than the comment.  It had been awhile since either of them was able to joke.

“It’s ok,” Stiles said.  “Deaton spent some time teaching your mom about herbs with a bit more magical flair to them.  My shoulder is basically numb at this point.”

“Well that’s good.  I mean not good that it’s numb, but it’s good that you don’t feel the pain.  What I mean to say is-“

“How did you know?”  Scott was kind of glad Stiles silenced his rambling.

“Know what?”

“That I was hurt. I mean they could’ve used the emergency tech but with Kira going all Thunder Fox we wouldn’t have had electricity or signals until at least 12 hours.”

Scott smirked a bit.  “I, uh, I felt it.  I don’t know; it was kinda weird.  I just suddenly felt your pain from miles away and I started to scream your name.”

“Of course you did,” Stiles whispered disappointingly.

                Scott was going to continue but he was discouraged.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“Scott, I heard you.”  Scott squinted a bit in confusion.

“I heard you say my name the moment I was attacked.  Now how the hell is that possible?”

“You’re in my pack.”

“I’ve never seen you do it before.”

“Stiles, why are you getting upset?” They seemed fine just last night but Scott could see it in his eyes.  Stiles was trying to be angry but all he was exuding was sadness. And maybe that’s what he was really angry about.  Scott didn’t want to tell him what he could pick up with his senses.  He just wanted Stiles to be honest.

“You can feel my pain from _miles away,_ Scott.  I was just hit in the shoulder.  What do you think’s gonna happen when I don’t make it?  What do you think is going to happen when it’s not just my shoulder that gets hit?”

“I’m not gonna let that happen.”

“Hello, boys,” Lydia yelled from a few feet away.  “Why the hell am I leading us?”

The boys acknowledged her but they didn’t move from each other’s sights. Stiles let out a tear and squeezed his eyes tight. Scott was right.  Stiles didn’t want to get emotional right now.  He didn’t think he could. Scott felt guilty for being so happy.  He was next to his friend, someone he loved and who he was falling in love with.  And that someone wanted him to be far away, somewhere else, just to be safe.

“I’m willing to die for this,” Stiles whispered.  “I’m not willing to take you with me.”

With that, he walked off

888

The Nemeton still looked the same after all these years.  The tree stump was dusty, dark and bigger than any tree around it.  It still commanded a sense of power and every sound Scott could hear seemed to silence as they drew closer.

He surveyed the area.  There were no footprints but something was off.

“Look at the ground,” Stiles said.  He noticed it too.

The grass was dying.  All around the Nemeton was completely bare.  A few feet further, the ground was black.

“It’s like…it’s infected.”  Scott couldn’t stop looking around. The infection was clearly spreading.  But they were here to fix it and couldn’t dwell on the damage already done.  The three of them took positions at different ends around the tree stump.

“So how does this work?”

“Well first, I need a sample of supernatural blood.  I put it on my hand and then my hand on the Nemeton.  That’ll give my full abilities.”

“And here I thought you wanted me along just to be near me.”  Stiles made a half smile at the comment.  Scott wasn’t as good at lifting the mood like Stiles was.  Or maybe the mood was just too heavy in the particular moment.

“Well you’re also here to protect me,” Stiles said.  “When I activate this ritual, I’ll be tapping into the center of the Nemeton’s power.  Supposedly I’ll go to sleep, some kind of vision quest to see if I’m worthy.  So I’ll need you and Lydia…”

                His pausing made Scott look over.  Lydia wasn’t paying attention.  She wasn’t paying attention to anything but her eyes weren’t moving. Stiles took a step forward.

“Lydia?”

                A sound from the bushes made everyone jump, Lydia especially.  Derek and Cora appeared from the foliage.

“Derek, what are you doing here,” Scott asked.

“We came to help.  We went to the school but Kira directed us here.”

“Cora.” Lydia whispered.  Then she screamed.  “Cora you can’t be here!”

“Lydia,” Stiles said as he moved closer to her.

“Look,” Cora explained, “Someone is causing this and we have to work together to fight it.”

“Or something,” Derek said.

“Why does everyone keep saying that?!”  Scott had clearly had enough.

There was another sound but this wasn’t from the bushes or the trees.  The ground in front of Stiles and Lydia started to shake and rise.  The figure continued to rise, shaking the bits of rubble off with each inch further above ground. 

When it finally landed, the six foot tall skeleton lowered its arms.  He was nothing but bones, dirty and grey.  There seemed to be more bones than any human would possibly have, with some filling spaces between the rib cage and forearms.  He only had one thing on him that wasn’t bone.  There was dirty, grey crown resting on top of his skull.

Stiles’ mouth dropped.  “…That’s why.”

Cora roared and leaped into the air.

“Cora, no!!!” Lydia screamed but there was no use.  The creature’s hand was already through Cora’s stomach.  Derek’s eyes turned blue as he watched his sister writhe in an attempt to stay alive.  The creature didn’t wait for an answer and tossed her aside.

Everyone but Stiles leapt into action.  Scott and Derek roared.  Lydia pulled away, unsheathed her daggers and attacked.  Three kicks to its chest at the same time knocked it back a few steps. Derek and Lydia didn’t let up, trading blow after blow to the assassin in front of them but Scott had a thought.

He turned around to Stiles. “Do it now!”  Stiles looked confused, then shocked and scared.  He got the message.  No one wanted to do what he was about to do but there was no choice.

Scott watched as Stiles walked over to Cora’s lifeless body.  He closed his eyes for a moment.

“God, forgive us,” he whispered and stuck his hand inside the hole in Cora’s stomach.  He pulled out his bloody hand and quickly ran over to the Nemeton.  The skeleton let out a horrid screech, but Scott and Stiles ignored it.  Stiles hand touched down.  Instantly the blood ran through each of the rings in the stump.  It circled and circled until it reached the center which sent a chill through Stiles’ body.  He collapsed beside the Nemeton.

“Stiles,” Scott called and ran over to him. 

He saw that Stiles was still breathing and let out a bit of relief.

Lydia was letting out a flurry of attacks.  She tried her best to slice through the bone, dodging each attack and blocking with her daggers to give Derek an opening with his claws or fists.  They were doing well but they were only holding the creature back.  Scott thought about it and realized that’s all they needed to do.

  He turned to the Skeleton King, eyes red and claws out, and let out the biggest most powerful howl he had ever made.  He had to give Stiles time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so, that happened. I really hope you guys are enjoying this and I'm gonna try my hardest not to let you down and give you a great story! More to come, I promise!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter was inspired by advice i got from one of my friends about this story. However I kinda took a bit of a spin on it.

Stiles woke up.  His pillow was cold and wet with his drool.  He remembered that his mouth would usually open when he was having a nightmare.  This had to be one hellish nightmare because the pillow was soaked.

                He turned over in his bed and checked out his alarm clock.  It was 10 AM and he was about to jump up until he thought about it.  It was Saturday; otherwise his dad would’ve woken him up.  That made sense.  It had to be Saturday.

                Stiles got up groggily in his tank top and boxer shorts and headed into the bathroom.  There was a note stuck to the mirror.

_Had to run into the station early.  Visit me at lunchtime? Otherwise have a good Saturday,_

Stiles smiled.  His dad was being way more considerate since the Nogitsune incident.  It had been a few months and Stiles tried to show how better he was but his dad was still treating him like something to be constantly looked after.  He never hated him for it.  There was a time where all Stiles wanted was his dad to fix everything but they both knew he couldn’t.  It made sense he was compensating.

                Stiles showered, letting the water refresh his body.  He could somehow feel his senses being reawakened, almost like he was only just waking up.

                He pulled the curtain back; worried that he might have heard something, though he really couldn’t remember if he did.  Then, the note on the mirror fell.  It fluttered like a feather on the way down into the sink, almost in slow motion.  _It’s flimsy paper,_ Stiles thought.  _All the steam on the mirror must have worn away the glue._

Stiles walked back into his room, wrapped in a green towel, with another matching towel he was using to dry his hair.  His phone was vibrating, precisely placed in the middle of his bed.  He didn’t remember doing that.  It finished vibrating before he could grab it.

_One Missed Call: Scott_

Then the phone vibrated again.  Scott had sent him a text message.

_Scott- Dude, lunch meetup?_

_Stiles- Can’t.  Plans with the parental.  Then more emissary lessons with Deaton. Can’t be your voice of magical reason without it._

_Scott- Ok I guess…_

_Stiles- Wait, is this a 911 lunch?_

_Scott- No. Nothing wolfy to speak of.  Just needed to talk.  We can do it later. Promise_ _J_

Stiles knew Scott only used smiley faces when he was flirting with girls or when he was trying to pretend he wasn’t upset.  Still, he knew he would never get Scott to admit anything now.

                He was dressed by the end of their text conversation. He chose a simple black shirt, jeans and black Chucks.  It was weird though.  By the time he got dressed, he couldn’t remember where he even got the clothes from.  Stiles looked over to his overflowing hamper and sighed.  His life was always a mess.  It was weird to have qualms about it now.

                He decided the best use of being in the house alone was to do random things.  He danced all over the house with his iPhone for a bit.  Then he practiced swinging his bat in new and more deadly ways, which only ended up breaking his lamp.  He then decided to try and fix the lamp, but quit when it came close to lunch time.

                Stiles walked downstairs and into his kitchen.  He went to grab some of the food he made for his dad the night before but he froze to look at the broom in the corner.  There was something familiar about it.  It wasn’t like he had never seen the broom before.  It was just a normal white broom with brown hairs on the end.  Still it was like something about it was calling to him.  He couldn’t think about anything else as he walked further and further, slowly like there would be some trick behind this household appliance.

                A vibration in his pants pocket made him jump.  He decided to focus on why he was so popular today instead of wondering why he was so transfixed by a broom.

_Lydia- Hey, have you talked to Scott?_

_Stiles- For a little bit but I told him I couldn’t meet him today._

_Lydia- Maybe you should.  It seems important._

_Stiles- I really can’t.  Dad love plus Deaton training. But Scott’s fine.  It can wait._

_Lydia- Can it?_

Stiles looked up at the police station.  It took him a minute to realize he was there.  It just seemed like he was in his kitchen a second ago. But he walked.  He had to have walked.

                There were two paper bags in his hand. He clenched them tight, hoping not to drop his dad’s lunch yet again.  He walked over to the Sherriff’s office and, even though the door was closed, he could see his dad and another figure talking.  His next assignment must have been more hectic than he anticipated.  Still, he could drop off the food and at least go see what Scott wanted.  What could Scott need if it wasn’t related to some new werewolf development?

“Mr. Stiles,” a voiced from behind him asked.

                Stiles’ eyes widened.  He didn’t turn around at first, he couldn’t.  Everything in his world, for a minute, seemed distorted and fragile.  It was like if he turned around, the room around him would shatter.  But he slowly turned anyway.

                The little Hispanic boy with bruises on his face and arms spoke again.

“Mr. Stiles?”

“But…” Stiles muttered.  “I don’t know you…yet.”

                _Yet? Why did I say yet?_ Stiles’ brain was malfunctioning.  But he peered into the boy’s eyes for something to make it work again. His mouth moved before his brain had time to catch up.

“… Jody?”

“Mr. Stiles, I’m so sorry.”

                Stiles wanted to ask a million questions but he was stopped as the walls around him began to disappear.  His eyes shifted back and forth as they disintegrated into thin air around him.  Then he turned back around.

                The door wasn’t to his father’s office anymore, except it was.  It was _just_ the door.  But there was nothing and no one behind it.  Through the window, around the door, all he could see were ashes and rubble.  It was smoking, fresh from whatever fire had destroyed it.  Nothing was making sense and Stiles’ heart was starting to beat fast.

“Stiles.”  He turned back around, but Jody was different.  He wasn’t 8 anymore.  He looked more like 12 or 13.

“I’m sorry this happened, Stiles.”  Jody then shifted.  His hair got shorter, his arms and legs got longer.  He didn’t look 13 anymore.  He looked like a full adult.  He spoke again, his voice deeper and words more articulate.

“Dad, I’m sorry this happened to you.”

                Stiles eyes had never been so wide.

 He didn’t know what to make of it.  Then his phone vibrated 5 times in and then nonstopped until he took it out of his pocket and into his hand.

_Scott- I need to talk to you know.  It’s important._

_Derek – Talk to Scott.  It’s important._

_Kira- I know you don’t want to face this but it is important._

_Allison- It’s important, Stiles._

_Talk to Scott_

_Talk to Scott_

_Talk to Scott_

Scott threw his phone out his hand.  He refocused on full grown Jody who was stepping toward him.  His face was unchanged, still determined and guilty.  Stiles took a few steps back only to hit the door with back of his head.  He turned his head and saw the inscription on the door.  “Sherriff Stilinski.”

“Dad,” he whispered.

                He turned back, right into a hug with Jody. He felt arms around his shoulder and waist but he didn’t move.  Then Jody whispered into Stiles’ ear.

“Dad, I’m sorry this happened to you.  But it’s important you know the truth.  It’s important you find out what really happened, what could happen and why you need to open your eyes and fight.”

                Suddenly the hug felt like excruciating pain.  Stiles screamed in agony.  He squeezed his eyes closed, trying to escape the torment and as he reopened them he saw nothing but white. Then his mind was forced into the memories of his real pain.

                He saw Allison cracking the code of killing the Oni, and then being stabbed to death by one.  He saw Deaton running in the woods and being sucked into the dirt by an invisible monster.  He could still hear Deaton’s muffled screams echoing in his ears.

                He saw his father fighting on the front lines.  He saw him firing his shotgun on demon after demon, only to be overrun by five of them.  He saw Scott, watching it all happen with no way of stopping it and screaming in anger and fear.

                He saw Morrell being murdered in her sleep.  He saw Cora being stabbed and tossed away.  And then, everything went white again.  It was so bright he had to shut his eyes.

                Stiles awakened on a porch in front of a modest yellow house.  The weather was sunny with a few fluffy clouds giving shade when needed.  There was a cool breeze that pushed Stiles back and forced him to turn around and look in the screen door.

                Scott, a little older and more relaxed, was sitting there with a graded test in his hand.  Jody was sitting on the floor, scratching his head and looking up at the ceiling.  Stiles took one step closer.

“What does tumultuous mean,” Scott asked.

“Um…agitated or disorderly.”

“And what does agitated mean?”

“Papi, that wasn’t on the test.”

Scott laughed. A laugh Stiles hadn’t heard in years.  “Well, buddy, if you don’t know what you’re saying, you’ll never remember for the next test.  Now I don’t know about this new math they’re teaching you.  I wasn’t really good at old math so you’ll have to wait until Daddy comes home.”

“Daddy,” Stiles echoed.

                Stiles heard a scream in the distance behind him.  He turned around and watched a completely different landscape through a small portal off the porch.  The land was barren and dark.  The sky was murky and everything looked depressing.  Thunder blasted from the sky as lightening spread throughout the grey clouds.

                The scream was repeated and Stiles could see another Jody running into another Stiles’ arms.

“Stiles!”  Scott ran up to them.  He looked normal but he was bruised and battered.

“Stiles, give me Jody.”  The other Stiles shook his head in fear.

“Stiles give him to me! We can’t do this otherwise. You have to trust me. Trust yourself!”  He took a step forward.

“Sti-, “Scott’s call was silenced.  His mouth was open, eyes wide in shock and blood began to pour out of his mouth. 

The real Stiles looked away from the vision.  He averted his eyes downward and noticed his feet.  The left was standing on the white porch in the gleaming sun.  The right was on the dank and dirty ground in the middle of the storm.

Stiles looked to the left and Jody had come out of the house.  He put a finger to his lips, then spoke.

“Don’t forget, Mr. Stiles.”

                Stiles took a second but he nodded.  Everything somehow made sense now and he knew his vision quest was over. He glanced back at his hands.  One of them was once again drenched with Cora’s blood.  He balled it up into a fist.  No one was going to die in vain again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope it came out clear. I read this chapter over more than the others because I knew it's confusing. It's a vision quest for fuck's sake. It's not exactly linear.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a short chapter, but important nonetheless.

Scott couldn't see out of his right eye.  The slash on his head was pouring blood in it and it was burning a great deal.  There scrapes and bruises from the Skeleton King and he was getting hit faster than he was regenerating. He was struggling to move from the ground. It didn’t matter, none of it did.  He needed to protect Stiles. He had to get back up.

                Lydia was holding her own.  She was fast, precise and knew her strengths.  She continued to fool the monster by striking and moving out of the way before he could retaliate.  He became open leaving Scott or Derek to attack with full force. 

                Derek was on the offensive.  He was blinded by rage and couldn't see anyone.  It didn't help that Lydia and Scott had to watch out for him as well.  They didn't speak, but they both knew Derek could turn on them if they got in his way.

                The creature shrieked again but this time Scott felt it was for something different.  The sound was almost the same but it seemed angrier and more  helpless.  He also didn't attack directly after.

“Something’s not right.”

Lydia stopped her assault and looked back at Scott.

“Scott?”

“Something’s changed.”

                The wind started to pick up.  At first it was soft but then the wind made a howling noise and became so strong it pushed through Scott’s shirt and in Lydia’s hair.  Scott could tell something big was coming; it was all around him but Derek was too focused to even feel it.  Scott finally picked himself up and ran over to Derek.  His red eyes glowed as he grabbed Derek by the waist and tried to hold him back.

“Derek, wait,” Scott growled.

                Derek wasn't listening and, what’s worse, he was breaking Scott’s hold.  Then the creature shrieked again, this time in even more pain.  The wind picked up further and even Derek couldn’t ignore it then.  Scott looked around, arms still around Derek, trying to figure out what was causing the disruption. Then his eyes looked up at the sky.

                The dark clouds were swirling and picking up unnatural speed.  There were circling around their battle ground.

                Scott gasped.  _They’re not circling around us.  They’re circling around…_

“Stiles!”

                Stiles’ eyes opened.  They were completely white.  He rose from the levitated off the ground and stood up straight.  Lydia backed away.  Scott back himself and Derek up.  There was just the pathway between Stiles and his enemy. 

                The Skeleton King shrieked, this time in what seemed like anger.  It was as if he was yelling at Stiles for commandeering his source of power.  Stiles simply smirked.

                He raised his hand the wind blew like a hurricane had arrived.  Lydia had to stab her dagger in the ground to keep from flying away.  Stiles didn’t see though.  He was too focused on showing the creature what his new power felt like.

                The King stumbled back a few steps, but tried to stay his ground.  Then Stiles hand shifted, palm up.  The Skeleton King was being raised.  He tried to claw around the invisible force around his throat that was pulling him up but there was no use.  The bones in his neck cracked a bit.  Stiles was strong, stronger than Scott had ever seen.  He wasn’t doing much but the heat that radiated from Stiles was something he never witnessed.  He could tell that Stiles was god like.

                Stiles spoke, but it didn’t sound like him.  It sounded like different voices at once.  Voices he somehow knew.

“Hear me, evil abomination.  I do not have the power to defeat you…yet.  But the forces I work with will grow in a small amount of time.”

                Scott’s hold on Derek got tighter.  Derek looked over at him but Scott was in a trance.  _Allison, Mr. Stilinksi, Deaton, Morrell, I…can hear them all._

 _“_ You will not hurt _him_.  You will not hurt them any longer.”  Stiles smiled.  The five voices spoke once more.

“See you on the battlefield.”

With a wave of two arms, Bright light emitted from Stiles and took over everyone.  It was so bright Scott couldn’t see.  Then he felt like each and every cell was being pulled.  He yelled and heard everyone else yelling too until he fell, rolling over on cement.

Scott opened his eyes.  They were back at the school.  The creature was gone.  He felt like he was hit by a bus but the adrenaline Stiles gave off was affecting him.  He jumped up and ran toward Stiles who was just lowering his arms. His eyes were turning back to their light brown color.

“Dude,” Scott said happily, “You have amazing powers.”

“Unfortunately not enough power.”  Stiles gestured over toward Derek who was bent over Cora.  Stiles used Cora to get this power.  There was no way he could’ve gone back and saved her.  But Scott knew that wouldn’t have made Stiles feel any better about what happened or what he had to do.

“Derek,” Stiles called.  Derek didn’t move.  No one expected him to.

“Call Peter.  Bury your sister.  We’ll call you both back when we go to kill that bastard.  But you have work to do.”

Stiles walked inside.  “And so do we.”

888

                Stiles and Scott sat in one of the transformed bedrooms.  There were mattresses from different homes scattered around the class room.  The chalkboard was covered with different drawings a few of the kids had made.  Scott thought maybe Kira or Lydia had given the assignment to make the place seem more at home for the time being.  But for now it wasn’t a bedroom, it was a meeting place.  But a meeting for what, Scott didn’t know.

                Malia walked in, bringing a worried Jody with her.  Her and Issac were already on their way back when they received word from Chris.

                Jody’s face relaxed and then got excited when he saw his friend was ok.

“Mr. Stiles!”  He ran up and hugged him tight.

“Hey, mister.  I’m ok, I’m ok.”  He pulled Jody off of him.

“You know, you can drop the Mr.”

                Jody smiled, almost like he knew Stiles was going to say that.  But he simply nodded and sat in the chair in front of them.  Malia must have told him Stiles wanted to speak with him.  He seemed confident even for such a young age.

“I gotta ask you a couple questions, ok?”  Jody nodded quickly.

“Jody, it’s about what you told my dad when you met.”  Jody nodded again, but this time it was slower.  This conversation was going in a direction he didn’t want.  It was clear on his face.

“You told him you ran away from your parents.  Now was it from two parents or just one?”

                Jody put a shaky finger up.  “Ok, one.  Good.”  Scott could see the fear in the kid’s face.  He didn’t know what was happening.  Stiles wouldn’t explain beforehand and he had known Jody longer.

“Maybe you’d want to do this alone,” Scott whispered.  Stiles reacted by grabbing Scott’s hand, threading their fingers together like they’ve always done.

“No, we need to do this together.  Trust me.”  Stiles turned back to Jody.  “Can you…tell me what he looks like?”

Jody looked scared.  He began to shake his head no but he also seemed to not want to let Stiles down.  The boy didn’t know what to say, so Scott stepped in.

“Could you show us?”

                Jody thought about it for a moment, then went over to his personal bed and pulled a piece of paper and a blacked colored pencil.  He sat back down and started drawing incredibly fast.  It was so infectious that Scott and Stiles just sat there, watching this young child draw with great detail and precision.  He was shading and highlighting.  He wanted to make sure he got every part right.

                When he finished, the pencil looked almost an inch shorter than it was when he began.  Jody looked up at Scott and Stiles, as if he was waiting for the next task but terrified of what it could be.

“I think Mr. Issac has some sweets he found from his trip up north,” Scott said.  “Go get some, buddy.”

                Stiles shot him a look but then tried to deny it.  Scott didn’t want to pry.  The more important matter was the drawing, which they both pounced on once Jody was gone.

                The drawing was a complete and clear representation of the Skeleton King.  Scott’s breathing got a little week.  He was frightened and confused and frustrated.  Then he got concerned when he noticed Stiles who didn’t look fazed at all.  In fact, he looked completely content.

“Stiles, I think it’s time you really tell me what’s going on.”

Stiles took a deep breath.

“When I was having my vision quest, Jody was my guide.  I was told sometimes you have guides if the quest is important enough.  Anyway, he’s the one the made me realize that it wasn’t real but something he kept saying bothered me.  He said ‘I’m sorry this happened to you.’  But he was saying it like…like it was his fault, like he was causing it. Then a got a lot of different visions, of the past and the future, and then I came up with a theory.  Well, now, I know it’s fact.”

Stiles held up the picture.

“Jody is dead.  Or at least he was dead. Then he was resurrected by this Skeleton King.  I think, somehow, Jody knew his new dad wasn’t to be trusted so he fled.  We starting getting attacked even more then, but somehow Jody leaving broke the bond between puppet and master.  Jody is a real boy now, growing with each year just like us.  But I think he thinks it’s his fault that the Skeleton King is trying to kill us.  I think he thinks he killed my dad.”

Scott was following.  He was shocked and confused but he was following Stiles’ theory.

“But the skeletons we’re facing are just bones and patches of skin.”

“Well Peter said that with enough concentration, the skeleton could look human, right?  This monster had no reason to do anything but focus on making Jody until he ran away.  Now he’s just making quick minions to fight us.”

“And to get his son back.”

“He can’t have him.  We won’t let it happen.”  Stiles’ tone was becoming shaky.  He was truly afraid.  Scott closed in, putting his arms around Stiles’ waist. His forehead was resting on Stiles’

“We won’t.  I promise,” he said. 

Scott kissed Stiles before he could speak again. It started off soft and gentle but Stiles increased the ferocity, sticking his tongue into Scott’s mouth.  Scott moaned with pleasure but he was slightly afraid.  He pulled his head back a bit.

“Stiles, this really isn’t the time.”

“Scott, we might not get a second chance.”  There was such a seriousness in Stiles’ face. There was concern and pain, but mostly there was love.  Scott felt loved in a way he hadn’t since Allison.  He decided there was no reason to deny himself that love, especially if the world went darker and bleaker as time went on.

                Scott slid his fingers under Stiles’ shirt.  He was incredibly gentle, giving Stiles a subtle and inviting touch before pulling the shirt off and kissing him again.  He then took his hand and slid down Stiles’ chest, to his stomach and into his pants. Stiles’ moan was the most beautiful thing Scott had ever heard.  He wanted to hear it all the time.

                They were both so intense that they practically ripped the rest of their clothes off.  They kicked off their shoes, pulled off socks and pulled each other’s pants down.  Then there was a silence as Scott and Stiles scanned each other’s body.  Scott had seen Stiles naked before but this was a new way of looking at him, at everything.  He gently put his hands on Stiles’ waist and slid them to the small of his back.  Stiles’ eyes closed with feeling and his arms fell onto Scott’s shoulders.  Scott looked over, seeing that the burst of Nemeton power must have healed Stiles completely.  Nothing could stand in their way.

“It’s just like when we would have to bathe together when we were little,” Scott said.

“Well, hopefully it’ll be a bit more fun,” Stiles replied and they kissed in the middle of their laughs and smiles. 

                Scott slid his hands again, this time downward over his ass and to his thighs.  His eyes flashed red as he tapped into a bit of his strength to lift Stiles up and carry him over to one of the unoccupied beds.  He laid him down gently, continuing to kiss him and feel as Stiles rubbed his hands all over Scott’s body.  Then he paused; he felt compelled, maybe because of the moment or because of the limited time they had.

“Stiles, I love you, more than anything in this world.”

“I love you, weirdo,” Stiles said as he ruffled Scott’s hair.  They both smiled but then Stiles got a bit serious.

“I love you too, Scott.  I always have.”

                Scott was so amazed how he could feel like nothing had ever changed between them but feel like everything had all at the same time.

888

                It was dark when they had finally become quiet.  Stiles’ cheek was resting under Scott’s hand.  His other hand was on Stiles’ butt.  He was quite happy that he had the ability to leave it there.

                Stiles was looking down, drifting off in some dream world that didn’t look too fun.  Scott pinched his butt to shock him out of it.  It worked but Scott also got a pretty hard punch in the arm for it.

“What are you thinking about,” Scott asked.

“What tactics people used to keep everyone away from the third floor for this long.”  They laughed but Scott knew that was a deflection.

“Seriously, what are you thinking about?”

“I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you,” Stiles whispered.

                Scott maneuvered closer, locking their legs together and making sure Stiles didn’t have to speak loudly.  Anything that was said after that was just for the two of them.  Scott didn’t say that out loud but since Stiles reluctantly decided to share, he was sure he got the message.

“In the last part of my vision quest, I saw two possible futures.  There was one where we apparently adopted Jody.  You were helping him with studying and reminding him you weren’t good at math.  And you were waiting for me to get home.”

Scott gave a small smile at the idea.

“And then there was another, more recent future where you…die right in front me.  You’re killed by the skeletons and-“

Scott put his fingers to Stiles’ lips.  He didn’t want to tell him he was crazy or wrong.  Scott didn’t want to tell him that they would prevent it because he knew promises like that were futile and horrible to make.  But he did turn over on his back and let Stiles lay on his chest.  He did link hands with him and used his other hand to stroke Stiles’ back.  He didn’t tell him they were going to win, but his actions spoke his one final thought for the night.

_We’re going to try._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who really wanted it, sorry there's no really explicit sex scene. I personally didn't think it fit in this particular story. I'm certainly not opposed to writing some good smut, but I just didn't hit me this time. Hope you're loving it anyway. I know I am!


	7. Chapter 7

It took three days for everyone to arrive back at the safehouse and Scott never left Stiles’ side.  He sat with him during guard duty, watched as he taught Jody new things, and even observed him, unseen, while he swept the courtyard.  Stiles knew he was there anyway, and he never regretted telling him about the two possible futures.  Something in his gut told him he had to.  The burst of Nemeton power was gone for now, but the feeling of it and the visions were burned in his skin.  He constantly felt their presence.

                During the middle of that third day, Stiles had decided he was tired of Scott pretending like he wasn’t watching over him.  He stopped sweeping for a moment.  He didn’t turn around but he talked as if Scott was right in front of him.

“Ya know, with all that werewolf training it’s weird that Derek never taught you how to _silently_ hide in the shadows.”

                He could hear shuffling footsteps and turned his head to see Scott with his face down in slight embarrassment. Stiles just sighed and continued sweeping.

“Get over here, mister.”

                Stiles was hugged from behind quicker than he expected.  He couldn’t help but smile and fall into it.  With one hand still on Stiles’ waist, Scott touched the broom, a white broom with brown hairs.  He touched it like he had never seen it before.  Stiles blinked a few times at the familiarity of the moment.

“Why do you do this?  I mean, according to Kira you do it every day.”

Stiles smiled a bit again. No one ever asked him why he did what he did anymore.  Maybe it was because they didn’t care.  Or maybe it was because everyone thought he was the smartest and knew the most.  Most times Stiles felt like he was the dumbest around.

“It’s something Deaton taught me.  It’s supposed to be sweeping the evil spirits away from the dwelling, east to west like the sun.  With all the evil taking up residency, I figured this place would need a daily cleanse.”

“Well does it work?”

Stiles had a thought.  “Why don’t we find out?”

                He released from Scott’s hold and stood next to him.  Stiles reached his hand out for Scott to take.  The moment their hands touched, Stiles took a breath and his eyes gradually turned white. He looked over at Scott who seemed uncomfortable with the flow of power pouring into him. Scott’s eyes instinctively went red but they slowly changed to white as well.  He relaxed and almost reveled in the feeling after that.

                They both looked at the edges of the school.  It was bathed in a golden aura.  The light sparkled and glittered in different spots, like the stars that weren’t even out yet.  There was universe over the school but at the same time it was clearly a strong barrier.  Stiles couldn’t believe Deaton was right, and then wondered if he ever really saw what his hard work looked like.

                Stiles looked over at Scott whose mouth was wide open.  He too looked amazed beyond belief.  To Stiles’ eyes, Scott was also glowing.  The same glittering light that protected the school was also all over Scott.  At first he wondered if it was because he was sharing this power with him. But then he knew.  Scott was beautiful and good and it was showing through.

                Stiles let go of Scott’s hand and watched as his eyes went back to red and then dark brown.

“Wow.  I can’t believe it,” Scott said.

“I know.  I think it has something to do with you being an Alpha that I can show you these things.  I don’t know how long this mysticism is gonna last but one thing’s for sure.  I’m officially the McCall pack’s emissary.”

Scott shook his head.  “Don’t get me wrong.  That…that sight was amazing.  But I was talking about you.”

Stiles looked confused.

“Stiles, that barrier is here because of you.  And you did it without powers or supernatural abilities.  You were amazing before the Nemeton.”

“So what are you saying, I’m Jesus-like now,” Stiles asked, trying to change the mood from being too serious.  He also didn’t know what to say anymore.

Scott just kissed him long and hard. 

“I’ll let you get to sweeping.  Apparently it’s really important.”

                Stiles was left in the courtyard to contemplate his thoughts.  They stemmed from his relationship with Scott to his strategies in the upcoming battle.  Then he thought about his dad.  He looked up, passed the now invisible barrier, passed the sky.

“Hope I’m making you proud, Dad.”

888

Stiles walked into the lacrosse field that night.  They had never really used it anymore since the attacks.  They hadn’t touched it in years.  But everyone was back and it seemed like the biggest place to have the biggest meeting of their lives.

He looked at everyone over in the stands.  Melissa was couldn’t stop hugging Scott and Issac.  Stiles thought about she must feel finally having both of her boys back.  He saw Ethan wrapped around Danny like he would never let go and Malia laughing at joke Kira told her and Lydia.  He saw Derek trading war stories with Chris and Peter trying hard to pretend he wasn’t enjoying the conversation. He saw Jackson rolling his eyes at the crowd but not at Jody, who was forcing him to smile until he spotted Stiles coming forward.

                Jody running caught everyone’s attention. Stiles picked him up in a hug and then stood Jody next to him.  The crowd was quiet, focused and ready.  Stiles was scared.  He was completely unsure of himself.  But then he looked at Scott.  He was the only one smiling just because Stiles was there.  Focusing on Scott’s smile and everyone around him, it was almost as if nothing had happened in 4 years.  For a second, he could pretend they were all there because they loved each other.  For a second, he could just fall into that.

“Go on,” whispered Jody.  Stiles nodded to the young boy and his gazed back onto the people, back onto his family.

“So I guess this is where I give some kind of ‘For Narnia’ speech and we’re all supposed to go into battle.  But I’m not good at that.  I’m good at being a goof and I’m good at strategizing.  I’m good at spotting evil when I see it.  I’m good at knowing who I can trust.  And I’m good at telling the truth, so I won’t bullshit any of you.

This fight is going to be like nothing we’ve ever seen before.  There’s going to be dangerous creatures with their terrifying leader.  There might be enemies that look like Beacon Hills citizens.  There might be enemies that…look like people we know. Our lost family and friends could be turned against us.  They will be turned against us and we have to accept that now and fight through it if we expect to survive.  Because the one thing this demon wants, he can’t have.”

Stiles looked down at Jody, who was holding on tight, and continued.

“I don’t want to see any more of my friends die but I’d be kidding myself if I thought that wasn’t a possibility.  Allison showed us, among a million other things, that this pack is not invincible.  But we are smart, courageous, perceptive, cool-headed and demanding.  So I need you guys to demand your survival tomorrow.  And I need you guys to kick their fucking asses.

                There was no battle cry.  There were no horns or trumpets blaring.  There were no fists in there.  It was silent, but everyone on those bleachers nodded and accepted their mission.  Stiles hated the process, but somehow he found peace in knowing how strong everyone was being, even when he was feeling weak.

                The group dispersed, either to sleep or talk some more before the next day.  Jackson took Jody with him, leaving Stiles just standing in front of Scott who couldn’t talk his eyes off him. Stiles didn’t want to say anything.  He just wanted to sleep next to Scott and wake up the next morning with no problem to deal with.  But the world was cruel and he had to do what was needed to survive.

“Scott?”

“Hm?”

“What happened the day that my dad died?”

Scott looked surprised at the question but he didn’t question it.  He just stood up, walked forward and spoke.

“We were a good 30 miles away from here.  We were following the Manticores back to their nest to stop them from breeding.  You know that part.  We thought we would get there in time.  But when we arrived I knew that something seemed off.  Issac, your dad and Kira said it didn’t matter. Kira had tracked them so we couldn’t turn back.  We were out numbered.  I was helping Kira, and when she got her footing I was running over to Issac who was being pulled in.  We stopped a few more but…I turned around and your dad was being completely overrun.  I wanted to run over.  I wanted to help.  But he wasn’t…he wasn’t screaming anymore.”

Stiles hugged Scott.  Part of him could see Scott getting upset.  He could see the guilt rising and he that wasn’t the reason why he wanted the information.  Another part of him didn’t want Scott to see him cry.  He knew he had to hear it, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

“Why did you want to know that,” Scott whispered.

“I needed to know that what I saw was real, that he’s truly gone.  That way, when I see him tomorrow, I can kill that son of a bitch pretending to be my father.”

They could have stayed in that hug all night.

888

                The field they were in was barren and dark, even in the middle of the day.  The sky was murky, grey and everything looked depressing.  Stiles felt like he’d been in this day before, but there was no time to figure out why. 

                The ground shook a bit as the Skeleton King rose from the earth, 50 feet away.  His crown, Stiles thought, looked dumber than it ever had. The creature released his arms, but this time pointed them out to the ground below him.

“Think they’ll be a lot of them?” Scott asked.

“The spell is more powerful the longer it has to gestate.  He’s had three days.”

                The ground shook like an earthquake, revealing hundreds of skeletons in all forms, from bones to full people.  Instantly everyone readied for battle.  Kira swung her katana, eyes flashing yellow.  Danny pulled out two pistols.  Chris looked in the scope on his assault rifle.  Lydia gripped and re-gripped her daggers, praying to Allison to give her strength. Malia snarled as she shifted, eyes glowing light blue.  The werewolves shifted as well in a sea of blue, gold and red eyes, two shining red eyes that were right next to Stiles.  Stiles cocked his shotgun and forced his eyes to glow bright and white.

“For fucking Narnia.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize this one is pretty short too but that's because the next one is going to be incredibly long. Mostly because it's not shifting back to Scott's POV. Next chapter is the battle so you'll see!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a few days. Pride Day was on Sunday so I did that and today has been crazy. Also reasons why I'm uploading this at 3AM. But like I said, this is pretty much everybody and it's almost all fighting. It was also really hard to get into the minds of people I haven't been writing about for 7 chapters before so I hope I got a good glimpse of them for you.
> 
> This is the 2nd to last chapter. So enjoy!

The fight started with a clash.  The horde of skeletons raced against their twelve opponents who stood, trying to be ready for anything.  There were a few shots fired before while they ran, a few skeletons taken down instantly, but the rest were coming in pretty close.  Stiles raised a hand, and his followers immediately separated into groups of two, hoping to have each other’s backs.  And as the skeletons attacked, hope was all Stiles could do.

“On your tail,” Danny yelled as he focused on his enemy.  Ethan spun around, leg first and captured the skeleton’s neck by the back his knee.  “You’ve gotten pretty good that this,” he said and crushed the skeleton as his leg bent.

Danny was holding his own.  His pistol shots were precise, shooting only at point blank range and fight with his fists and the back of the gun to save bullets. He was smart and trained well.  Ethan could see it and the skeletons were surely getting the brunt of his work.

Ethan had always been practicing.  It got more extreme when he tried to use training to fill in the hole his twin brother left behind.  Aiden’s death was a trigger but, to him in the best possible way.

Ethan dropkicked a skeleton into Danny’s path.  Without a second thought, Danny lowered the gun and shot the demon in the throat. 

“I’m out. Cover me,” Danny said and crouched down.

                Ethan ran in front of his old flame, slashing and clawing at the skeletons that came through.  He was growling in an almost blind rage, trying to give Danny just a little more time to put the next clip in his gun. Ethan heard the click of it snapping in as another skeleton approached.  He went to raise his hand but he hesitated and was struck down.

                Danny raised, gun pointed right in the face of Aiden. He hesitated as well. He didn’t mean to.  He knew Aiden never really liked him or Ethan and his relationship.  But it wasn’t about that.  It was about seeing someone he knew had disappeared from this earth looking at him, even with freakishly orange and black eyes.

                His face looked almost sad, like he was hurting and needed help.  Danny’s gun lowered just a bit as he took a step forward.

“…Aiden?”

                The skeleton’s face immediately smiled as deception and he sent a punch to Danny’s chest.  The crack was almost audible.

                Danny fell to the ground.  Aiden looked over him.  Then, he shot straight up.  His eyes looked down at the claw coming through his chest.  Ethan moved closer to whisper in ear that was slowly disintegrating away

“I told you before; never touch him.”

                The Aiden replica turned to ashes, some of which filled in Ethan’s hand.  He swiped them away and took his position in front of Danny.  He was on the ground and starting to black out.  They may have gotten one hit on him, but Ethan had made a silent promise they wouldn’t get anymore.

888

There seemed to be just flashes of light blue and gold.  Eyes open wide and focused, Isaac and Malia had come to know their abilities extremely well.  Malia was bold and aggressive.  She moved from one enemy to another, usually tackling and crushing them under her weight.

                Isaac was quick and acrobatic.  He moved around most of his opponents, mostly leading them in Malia’s trap.  They had been working together for a while now and Isaac had gotten a handle on their dynamic.  He also wasn’t ashamed to admit he had learned some new things from the were-coyote.

                Isaac did a somersault over a skeleton as Malia came up from behind, elbowing it right in the jaw.  Isaac landed and pushed back on his feet, using his elbow and hit the back of the skeleton’s skull.  The combo cracked the skull completely, shattering their enemy to ashes.

“So do you wanna go out sometime? And ya know not vanquish demons,” Isaac asked calmly.

Malia simply rolled her eyes and push kicks a skeleton that was coming after Isaac.

“Is this really the time?”

“Hey, this might be the last time.”

                Malia looked at that smile and couldn’t help but smile back, even in the midst of all the chaos.

“Whaddaya say?  If we’re both alive after this, wanna get dinner?

                Isaac noticed that Malia’s face was slowly changing from enraptured by his charm to being completely shocked.  She was also looking passed him.

“…Isaac,” She said.

                Isaac turned to see the face of his dead father.  He looked grey and rotten and his eyes were like those of all the other skeletons but his face, Isaac thought, his face was full of the exact same anger he had his entire life.

                Isaac punched him once for being locked in the freezer.  He punched him again for all the bruises he had to make up excuses for.  He punched again for all the thrown glasses and dishes at his head.  Isaac just kept punching and punching until he turned his breathing into a full blown howl. Even as the bones turned disappeared he still punched the ashes as they fell onto the ground.

                Isaac was only out of breath for a moment.  Then he saw through his rage enough to look at Malia.  Her mouth was wide open but she didn’t look scared at all.  She was more surprised and maybe a little impressed.

“Um…ok.  Yeah, we can go to dinner.”

888

                Chris couldn’t help be amazed by Peter’s agility.  All those years hunting him and he never realized how great his adversary was.  They were probably around the same age and yet Peter was doing leaps over the skeletons. He lifted them up and threw them into the ground.  He was a truly wild animal.  But he was a wild animal on Chris’ side this time.

                Peter wasn’t blind to Chris’ athleticism either.  He was careful with his assault rifle.  He was careful, even with an automatic weapon.  There were only three bullets shot into every skeleton and no one ever got close enough to touch him. Peter was providing the perfect perimeter by mauling anything that ran towards them.

                Chris shot another skeleton, three bullets in the chest.  He went to shoot again but spotted a woman walking over with short, red hair.

“Victoria,” he whispered.  Before he could finish a huge black wolf had his mouth around the woman’s head.  He ripped it off, turning the remaining body into ash.

Peter shifted back, coughing up some of the ashes he swallowed.  Chris wanted to thank Peter for stopping him from getting emotional but there didn’t seem to be any words.

“Sorry about your niece, Cora,” he said.

“Thanks.”  There was a bit of silence.  Peter decided to do the right thing too, no matter how awkward.

“Sorry about your sister, Kate.”

“Eh, she was kind of a bitch.”

There was nodding and then another three shots to a skeleton.  Chris figured that was as good as it would get.

888

                Jackson was getting frustrated.  He would jump in the air or ready his fist for attack and the enemies would turn to ash before he could reach them.  His golden eyes peered at Derek who was too focused to notice or care.  He continued to slaughter any of the minions in the area.

                Jackson decided to be fancy, doing a cartwheel, flipping in the air and then trying to come down claws first only to hit the ashes falling in front of him.

“I fucking had him,” Jackson protested.

“Be faster,” Derek demanded.

                Jackson felt like this was no time for a training session.  He growled in frustration, but that growl pulled something out of his better he hadn’t felt in a while.  Something in his stomach, or maybe his chest was burning and he couldn’t do anything else until he sweat it out.

                Jackson moved faster than he ever had, leaping into the air and breaking two skeletons in front of Derek with a split kick.  He didn’t even feel his back as he landed on the ground.

Derek helped him up and they stood, back to back and battle ready.  Jackson couldn’t help but smile, having completed Derek’s challenge.

“What was that,” Jackson asked.

“That’s the power boost you get from being near your Alpha.”

Jackson looked at Scott, the first time he had showed worry all day.

“I hope he knows what he’s doing.

888

                Kira and Lydia were a well-oiled machine.  Kira sliced away with her sword and duck.  Lydia rolled over her back and kicked then ran to strike the final blow with her daggers.  Kira grabbed Lydia’s forearm and lifted her into a double kick at the next skeleton.  Then, Kira would stab the skeleton into the ground.  They continued to call to each other, “A, H, P,” and many more maneuvers they created when the safehouse was peaceful.

                Lydia was a completely new person.  She shut out the voices that spoke of death.  Then she developed the ability to demand things from those voices. She forced them to work for her.  She kept saying in her head the next skeleton she was facing and surely enough they would go down.  It was not her powers that were aiding her.  She knew she was trained well by Chris, but the biggest thanks would go to Kira. 

                Kira flipped forward, landing with her knees on the skeletons shoulders and crushing its head with her thighs.  Lydia had to take a minute and look at her friend being  a firecracker.  Allison and her would’ve been unstoppable.

“Lydia,” Kira called.  She ran up next to her and noticed the incoming trouble.  There were about 15 skeletons coming at the same time.  They were getting smarter.

“Double Z,” Kira suggested.

“What? No.  We’ve never perfected that move.”

“Lydia we’ve never had targets to perfect that move.”

“All the better reason to wait for not life-or-death central.”

Kira looked at the creatures closing in.

“Life-or-death is all we got.”

                Lydia reluctantly and then took a deep breath to try and focus.  She _needed_ to focus. 

                She ran forward while Kira pulled out Allison’s old stun baton.  Kira fired the electric pulses into her palm until they started to take shape, becoming a floating ball of electricity in her hand. Her eyes were turning yellow as she charged up, feeling the flow of energy taking shape in her hand.

“Double Z!” Lydia responded to Kira’s call by doing a front flip and throwing the ring daggers right into the ground in front of the skeletons.  Kira fired her energy ball and used the metal weapons as lightning rods.  Each skeleton near them had spasm, and then collapsed in dust. 

Lydia jumped up in celebration.

“Double damn Z!”

Kira walked over, ready to congratulate but then, looking out, her face dropped.

“Scott,” she said, pointing over. Lydia followed Kira’s finger.

“Scott, oh no.”

888

Scott couldn’t do it.  He had tried to mentally train himself for this moment.  He tried to believe he could handle it if the moment arrived.  But he stood there, looking at Allison.  Her eye color change didn’t matter.  It was still Allison.  It had Allison’s smile and her hair and her walk.  Allison was walking toward him, slowly, and he was deaf to anyone or anything telling him otherwise.  That included Stiles yelling him from a few feet away.

“Scott,” he screamed as he fired his shotgun on enemy after enemy.  They had a plan.  Scott and Stiles were partners in this.  But Scott couldn’t get himself and he didn’t have the time to help.

“Scott, she’s not real!  I’m real.  Your friends dying are real.  Please!”

                There was still no response.  Then Stiles remembered.  _The barrier._ Stiles’ brain had to work faster than it ever had before.

_I could show Scott the truth before._

_I was touching him then._

_I don’t need to touch him now, I just need to want to show him._

_Like an affirmation or…or a spell._

_Spells are usually in Latin.  Harry Potter, don’t fail me now._

“Ut ei veritatum,” Stiles yelled.  It took a long minute, longer than Stiles had hoped for, but his eyes were turning white and then Scott’s did too.

Scott saw an dark aura around Allison.  Then, he couldn’t just see it, he could feel it.  It was heavy and gritty.  It felt soulless.  It felt evil and that pissed Scott off.  He had to see his first love, one of his best friends being used to do someone’s bidding who didn’t care about her smile or her walk or who she was at all.  She was just a something to plague his mind. He didn’t need any more help in that department.

In tears of rage Scott screeched.  He yelled, gurgling up spit and forgotten, unwanted emotions as he tore Allison apart. Stiles could do nothing but look away. He had to go someplace he never wanted to go to get the job done and he didn’t know if he could ever come back.  Scott just wanted the dark aura to disappear and he didn’t care how long it took.

Stiles looked up from where he was facing.  His father was walking toward.  He saw his father’s smile and his father’s hair and walk.  But then he saw his father’s shirt.  Something was missing. He went in his pocket and pulled out his father’s Sherriff star.  Stiles smiled as pulled both the star and his gun up.

“Nice try, motherfucker.”  Stiles fired, one armed, and tore the skeleton to bits.

                He exhaled, remembering the story of how his father died. He was right in that memory giving him peace.

                A scream made Stiles turn back around.  It was a child’s scream and suddenly things were happening too fast.  Jody was running from Scott’s claws.  Scott was still in a blind rage.  The Skeleton King was walking over, finally tired of all his generals dying.  Too many things were going on.  Stiles wasn’t focused. He couldn’t focus.

                The scream was repeated and Jody ran into Stiles’ arms.  Scott’s eyes were changing back.  He was looking more like himself, like he was coming to his sense and maybe even idea? But Stiles was still shaken.  He couldn’t figure out why.

“Stiles! Stiles, give me Jody.” 

Stiles shook his head in fear.

“Stiles give him to me!  We can’t do this otherwise.  You have to trust me.  Trust yourself!”

Then, Jody whispered into Stiles’ ear.

“Daddy, don’t forget what we said.”

                Stiles mind got a rush of information at an incredible speed.  He was here before.  He was right at the moment.  And he didn’t trust himself.  And what happened? _What happened?_

Jody looked into Stiles’ eyes and Stiles watched as they flashed white.

Stiles nodded. “Go,” he whispered.

Scott took a step forward.

“Scott, duck now,” Stiles yelled.  Scott followed suit, dodging the Skeleton King’s attack and sliding back in front of Jody.  Jody moved in front though and faced the enemy with no screams, no tears and no worries.  His eyes were white and the wind was picking up.

The Skeleton King cocked his head in confusion and intrigue.  He bent down over the little boy.

Stiles looked around.  Kira and Lydia were being surrounded.  Ethan was collapsing on the floor over top of the already collapsed Danny.  Things weren’t looking good.

“Jody, please,” Stiles whispered.

                Jody spoke.  But it wasn’t Jody.  Stiles’ dad spoke.  Morrell, Deaton, Cora, and Aiden spoke.  Allison spoke.

“I know why you have entered this domain.  We are here to inform you that your attempt is futile.  We have chosen.”

He looked back at Stiles and then turned back.

“He has accepted. You have no power here.”

                Jody raised a finger and tapped on the metal of the King’s crown.  A sudden light, white like color of Jody’s eyes, broke through the Skeleton King.  He shrieked as the same happened to his followers.  They all began to break, the white light tearing them apart until they burst into ashes.  Then all that was left was Skeleton King.  His explosion was the largest.  Scott and Stiles covered Jody and felt a bit of heat on their back as the creature disappeared from existence.

Scott stood up first.  “What the fu-“

“Now’s not the time,” Stiles interrupted.  They both looked over at Ethan holding Danny’s body on the ground.

“We have some more to do before this is truly over."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you at the finish line people!


	9. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the ending. I really hope you enjoyed my story. I really had an awesome time diving into this story. Who knows? Maybe I'll make this a real hobby of mine! :)

Stiles woke up in the arms of Scott.  He was groggy and didn’t smile, but as he turned, he could see the sunrise out the window behind Scott’s head.  He wondered how many sunrises they would see together.  He thought about all they had been through and how they got to this moment.  It was a tumultuous journey and a thought process that took Stiles a long time to go through.  The sun was illuminating the entire sky when he broke out of his trance.  The first thing he noticed was that there was an actual sun outside.  It seemed like it had been years since the sky had turned grey.  They did make some kind of difference with their efforts.

                Stiles shuffled forward, his bare chest hitting Scott’s in a hug Stiles desperately needed.  Scott moaned a bit, signaling he was waking up.  Then he laughed as much as he could first thing in the morning.

“What’s so funny,” Stiles asked.

“Nothing, it’s just…I never thought about waking up to you like this.”

“And now that you have?”

“I never want to wake up any other way.”

Stiles ran a hand through Scott’s hair.

“You are a mushy sap, Scott McCall.”

                Scott smiled in slight embarrassment, and then his face got a bit serious.  Stiles’ hand went down to Scott’s cheek.  He was concerned, partially because he was hoping to at least have a serious-free morning.

“Stiles?”

“Yes, boyfriend?”  Scott scoffed at the new title.  Stiles was still trying to lighten the mood, even though he knew the question was still coming.

“When we were fighting, when I saw…Allison, what did you say to help me?  It was in like Greek or something.”

“Latin.  I learned a bit from Lydia on some of the less apocalyptic days.”  Scott stared.  He needed an answer.  Stiles just sighed.

“I said ‘Show him the truth.’  Not the most profound I guess-“

                Stiles’ sentence was silenced by a kiss.  He was confused but still reveled in it.  He didn’t realize how much Scott affected him until he was constantly there in this new stage of their relationship.

                They pulled away to stare in each other’s eyes.  Scott spoke first.

“The truth was exactly what I needed.  If it wasn’t for Allison I wouldn’t be who I am today.  But if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be alive today.  The truth is I love you, Stiles.”

Stiles thought of every joke he had in the book.  But the mood was already lighter than air.  He had nothing left to hide behind.

“I love you, Scott.”

                They held each other for what seemed like hours.  They both knew their heads were racing in thought.  There was so much undiscovered country before them and so much destroyed land behind.  They had been through more than anyone should go through and yet they had come out the other end; well, not all of them.  With all the hope, guilt and fear weighing on them and everyone they knew, holding each other for hours seemed necessary.

“We have to go,” Scott said.

Stiles didn’t want to, but he nodded anyway.  Before they started anew, they had to finish absolutely everything.

888

                The funeral for Danny didn’t last long.  No one wanted to sit for hours over their friend’s body and tell about how great he was.  They all knew how great he was.  That’s what made it so hard.

                Ethan carried his body like he was carrying a child off to bed.  It was heartbreaking for Stiles to see it, but he knew Ethan would have fought anyone who told him no.  He placed Danny in the ground and began pouring handfuls of dirt over top of him as Melissa said a few words to everyone.  The scene was too familiar and too painful so Stiles tuned out.

                He noticed Lydia wasn’t there.  She was probably looking after the sick at the school, or sharpening her skills so something like this never happened again.  She was probably crying.  Stiles knew how tired she was of people seeing her crying.  He didn’t have any problems with her not  being there.  He just wanted everyone to be ok.

                He noticed Malia and Isaac behind him.  Isaac was being comforted as a few tears streamed down his face.  He seemed to be the only one crying, but then again, short of him, Scott and Jackson, Isaac knew Danny the longest.  But Jackson seemed to be nowhere too.

                Peter stood silent, as did Chris and Derek.  They had all lost someone.  Everyone lost someone.  It was weird being in a funeral like that, knowing that everyone around had been through this too many times and too recently.  It was as if everyone wanted it to be over but knew that they had to stick it out just a bit longer.

                Then Melissa said something, or started to say something, that struck Stiles’ attention.  His eyes watered up, but he refused to cry.  He felt both of his hands get squeezed.  Scott was trying to protect him on his left.  Jody was asking for protection on his right.  So he didn’t cry.  He just listened.

“Danny became a fighter.  We all know what fate a fighter usually meets but he fought anyway.  He used his brain to be a warrior, a lover, a friend and piece in the puzzle to win this war.  His death was not in vain but I want no one here to think of him as a ‘War Hero’.  I want you to know that in war there are no heroes.  Unfortunately there are those who don’t make it and those who live with the guilt that they did.  In real war, there are no medals.  There are only our memories of those who can’t walk with us anymore.  So don’t think of Danny as a hero.  Think of him as a lover, a friend and a piece of our puzzle that we can never get back.  We may never be whole again, but we can still show the picture he would’ve loved to be a part of.”

Jackson finally appeared after those words.  He said nothing and looked at no one.  But he knelt down and started pouring handfuls of dirt over his best friend.  No one spoke after that.

888

                Stiles watched as Jackson hugged Jody goodbye and got in a car with Chris and Isaac.  They were heading north to help rebuild what the skeletons had destroyed.  Peter and Malia were going to do the same thing in the south the next day and Derek would meet them in a week.  Everyone was separating again but it felt different this time for Stiles.  Everyone had their own lives, but they were always planning on coming back home. Stiles reached in his pocket and rubbed his dad’s star, praying they’d all come back home.

                As the car disappeared, Jody ran over to Stiles.  He just stood in front of him and smiled until Stiles couldn’t help but smile and laugh in both happiness and confusion.

“What is your plan for today, hero?”

“I want to show you both something.”

“Well Scott’s talking to his mom.  I mean, grandma?”

“She’ll like to be called Abuelita.”

Stiles nodded slowly, thinking about the absurdity of the conversation.

“How do you know all this?  You still haven’t told me.”

“I have to show you.  _Both_ of you.”

Jody’s smile was incredibly genuine.  He had this incredible knowledge, but he was obviously still just a kid.  Stiles nodded again.  He needed answers just as much as Jody wanted to share them.

 

                Scott and Stiles followed Jody into the woods.  They walked warily but Jody ran in front like he was in his own personal playroom.

“Jody, please slow down before you get hurt.”

“You sound like his dad already,” Scott teased.

“Well according to him, I’m not the only one, Papi.”

Scott stood for a moment, mouth agape. Stiles couldn’t help but laugh.

“Papi?  Well, I guess my grandmother would be proud.  Embracing my heritage and all.

                They joked and kept track of Jody until he went into a few bushes they couldn’t see through.  Scott and Stiles raced over, almost like a couple of worried parents, and pushed through the shrubbery until the saw their boy, sitting on top of the Nemeton.

                They both gasped, an almost stood ready to fight whatever danger usually hangs around the stump but Scott was the first to relax.  He sniffed around for a moment.

“Something’s different.  This place it feels, almost pleasant.”

Jody pointed at Stiles.  Stiles pointed at himself in a silent question.  He couldn’t grasp it for a second, that he could have changed the course of Beacon Hills forever.  But he forced himself to.  It would prove that his loved ones who died put their faith in the right person.

                Jody then jumped off the large stump and dug around in the dirt.  It took him a few minutes, but his face was so calm and focused that Scott and Stiles patiently waited for him to finish and pull out the small metal plaque.  He handed it to Stiles like a gift and smiled.  Stiles took it slowly and read it in his head.

_Jody Velazquez - Cherished Son, Gone too Soon_

Stiles handed it Scott but his eyes were fixed on Jody as he unraveled each secret at rapid speeds.

“You were buried near the Nemeton.  That’s why you could break the Skeleton’s spell.  It wasn’t because you ran away.  It was because you have power of your own.”

Jody’s eyes flashed white in response.

“Wait,” Scott said.  “I don’t get it.”

“When Jody was being resurrected he was mixed with dark powers and Nemeton power.  So he was only half the Skeleton’s.  But when I took control of the Nemeton he became all mine.  So that’s why when I was in the vision-“

Stiles’ rant was silenced by Jody taking a step forward and grabbing his hand.  Then he took Scott’s hand and looked at them both.

“I’m not dead.  I’m not bad.  I’m…yours.  If that’s ok. Ok?

                Stiles looked at Scott.  Scott was smiling in way that said _Can we keep him?_ Stiles thought about the vision he had and how happy it looked and felt.  They could have that future.  There was no reason they couldn’t have it.  Nothing was standing in their way but Stiles’ fear.  Stiles had been scared this entire time.  But he saw the two things he loved the most and brought them into a hug.  Fear or no, they had to try.

                Stiles  closed his eyes, one arm around Scott and another around Jody.  He felt like everything was going to be ok soon.  Then he opened them and couldn’t help but look over at the Nemeton.  There was a small sprout shooting up from the center.  He thought about everyone that died for that thing, everyone who died for him.  He thanked them all in his head but one person he couldn’t help but speak out loud to.  He stared at the sprout and whispered.

 

“Thanks, Dad.”

 


End file.
